It's Christmas Time Again
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Lily loved Christmas and spending time with her family. Mostly.


_**Written for the 'Holiday Season Challenge' by AngelicKat445. (also helps that I live in a constant state of Jily. Also would help if I actually wrote out a time line for all my stories.) **_

_**Sorry, AngelicKat445. It's Christmassy (?), but not terribly cheerful. I tried to have some lightness, but Dallen Evans (insert grumpy face) keeps getting in my way. You'll see why soon enough. HP is not mine.**_

_**/**_

_A week before Christmas, 1979_

It was a nice house, three bedrooms, two bathrooms. One could feel comfortable without being cramped, but also not lost in a sea of house. It was quite like a certain girl's childhood home. It was nothing like a certain boy's childhood home. Big enough garden for picnics and playing around in, had it not been covered in snow, a heavy blanket. Flowers drooped, having already given up on that daily struggle in favor for a nice, long nap. For nothing could say no to that wonderful little snowflake, that beautiful little ice crystal that came to put nature down for it's nap, like a comforting parent. On every window hung a Christmas wreath, and the tree inside was already bursting with decorations, presents stacked neatly in some closet deep inside the house, carefully hidden from both James and Marie. Christmas was James' favorite time of year, whether celebrated magically or more like a Muggle, and he could sometimes get out of control.

Inside the house, oblivious to what is going on this very moment outside the window, is a man, happy enough in a sour-faced sort of way. Not that he was grumpy, no, merely cynical to the usual Christmas cheer that decorated his daughter's house. For it _was _his daughter's house and he felt the awkwardness of all parents, a guest in their own child's home.

He was a thin, pale man, a professor at a university not far from his house. Underpaid and overworked is how he liked to explain his work. His brown eyes were kind enough, his auburn hair-a great embarrassment to him, even now-speckled with grey and thinner than it had been just ten years ago. His smile was tight as he looked on towards his greatest annoyance. This man, sitting so uncomfortably on the couch, was Dallen Evans.

"Here you are, Mr. Evans." said Dallen's greatest annoyance, a nineteen year old boy, with rumpled hair and crooked glasses and a twitching mouth. A _nineteen _year old boy, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a baby on his hip. The afore mentioned James Potter, Dallen's son-in-law.

He set the cocoa down in front of Dallas, smiling slightly. "Did you want any marshmallows with that?"

"I prefer it plain, thank you." Dallen's voice still held a hint of an Irish accent, left over from thirty-four years in Ireland and only fifteen in England. (Unfortunately for Dallen, he would die with that accent, a great embarrassment to him. Nearly as embarrassing as the little red-headed girl before him.) "Marshmallows are full of sugar and sugar is bad for you. Sugar clouds the mind, blocks the pathways of logic."

"Ah, of course." said James Potter, looking away from Dallen and rolling his eyes. James disapproved of his father-in-law, the man his wife called 'Da'. The man who had tried to kill James' child. "Wouldn't want to block _your _pathways to logic."

"What is it you do, then, James? What sort of career do you have? Your profession?" asked Dallen, blatantly ignoring James' sarcasm. Or maybe he hadn't even noticed; it was hard to tell sometimes. "I would like to know how my son-in-law provides for my youngest daughter and my only grandchild." The obvious and unspoken '_for now' _hung in the air. Everyone (at least, in the Evans family) knew about Petunia's desperate attempts to conceive, especially now that her baby sister had a child of her own. If Petunia _did _have a child, Dallen had explained, he or she would receive all of Dallen's inheritance.

"It's easy to understand, really. You and your...husband have enough money, it would seem. Besides, your daughter was not born properly and I want a _normal _grandchild."

"A non-wizard one, you mean." Lily had said, trying to hide the hurt on her face. Dallen had gone red in the face, flustering about, but Lily hadn't been naïve then to his words and she wasn't today.

"Me? I guess I'm sort of like a policeman, in a way. I catch bad guys, I guess is a way of putting it, maybe?" said James, settling Marie on the couch and taking a sip of his own marshmallow and sugar-filled hot chocolate, which had been resting on the table, well out of reach of little hands.

"There are 'bad guys' amongst Wizards? People who wish us harm? Why on earth...?" Dallen wrinkled his nose. The idea of people who wanted to do bad things, especially with magic, was a scary, terrifying concept. If these 'bad guys' had powers anything close to his daughter, Dallen doubted the non-magical people would make it very long, should the Wizards choose to ever attack.

"There are 'bad guys' everywhere, Mr. Evans. Doesn't matter if you've got magic or not, we're all human. Aren't we?" James smirked, watching Dallen struggle past his tea, trying not to laugh-and at the same time, resist punching the stupid Muggle- as the man grew red in the face, unable to answer truthfully, that '_no_' he didn't consider Wizards to be proper humans at all. _Bastard. _

"Mm. Well, they seem to be a quiet lot, then, these bad people."

"That or Muggles are completely oblivious to anything not right in front of them." James grumbled to himself. It was true, as far as James was concerned. The Muggles were a stupid lot that walked around with their hands over their eyes and their ears plugged.

"All right, you two," said Lily suddenly from the kitchen, hearing the tenseness between Dallen and James. "that's enough now."

She appeared in the doorway, all frantic movement and worried looks. Lily came bustling out, giving her father a terse smile. She had called him over, had ruined, as James claimed, Marie's first Christmas, for _very important news. _Lily was clutching her own cup of hot chocolate-it really was an Evans' family tradition-as she rested next to James, setting the cup down and pulling Marie onto her lap.

"It's...uh...nice to see you again, Da. It's...ah...been a while..."

"You haven't invited me for a while, Lilian. I suppose whatever you called me up for must be important. You wouldn't bother calling me up just for a cup of cocoa, would you? Haven't before, that's for sure."

Another smile, her face strained as she struggled for words. "No, I haven't, Da, have I? But you're here now."

"On your behalf, yes. Feeling a little sympathetic towards a poor old man now that it's Christmas? I seem to recall most of my friends practically dropped their parents once they'd moved out of the house. I suppose that some things never change between generations. Little bird like to fly from the nest, don't they? Or, hopefully, you have good news? Perhaps you've come to your senses and decided to rid yourself of all this nonsense." 'All this nonsense' being James, who scowled, wishing he could throw a teacup at Dallen's head and not get in trouble.

"Not quite, Da. Actually, what I have to say is sort of a surprise Christmas present for both of you. Marie, too, I suppose."

"Well, then, continue, Lilian. Why should we have to wait for a Christmas surprise? I'm not getting any younger, am I?"

"DaJameslistenI'mpregnant."

"I'm sorry, what?" Both Dallen and James gave Lily bemused looks. James scratched his head, confused.

"Why do you children feel the need to rush everything you're saying? Slow down, please, Lilian. You're just like your mother, moving too fast so you can get everything done. You'll leave someone behind at that speed."

"James' and I are having another baby. In July or August, according to the doctor. He says everything is perfectly fine, that the baby is healthy and I'm healthy, not that that probably means anything to you. But, yeah. I'm pregnant." She had a sort of '_deal with it_' sort of look on her face that slightly scared Dallen. It was quite similar to the sorts of looks his wife would give him when she wanted something and wasn't going to accept no for an answer.

"You're _what?_"

"We're _what? _When was I going to find out about this?" James' teacup slipped from his fingers, smashing into little bits on the floor.

"The boy has a point there, Lilian, as much as I hate to say it. When, when you planning this little announcement of yours, when did you ever consider a good idea to _not _tell your husband first? And as a Christmas present, too? That's ridiculous, Lilian. I swear, your sister wouldn't do this to her poor husband. "

"My sister doesn't have a baby to tell about, now does she, da?"

"Oh? Didn't she tell you? Petunia is pregnant, actually."

Lily paused, looking up at her father. Petunia was pregnant? Why hadn't anyone _told _her? Why hadn't Petunia sent her a letter or called her or something. Petunia had always been Dallen's favorite, and the smirk on her father's face was only further proof that Lily had only been the strange, extra child he had had in his quest for a son.

"I wasn't aware of that, no. She must have forgotten to mention it to me. She hardly ever writes anymore."

"Most likely busy preparing for her baby. She's not sure yet, of course, but Petunia says it feels like a boy. No way to tell, though, not for a while yet. Can you imagine? My first grandson! I've no doubt it will be a boy, all things considered."

"How fantastic." Lily's smile had frozen on her face, a twisted, sad smile. Her sister, who honestly believed that Lily only existed to ruin her life, had shown her up again. _Yes_, Lily knew magic. _Yes_, Lily was very pretty (god, how she hated those words) and considered fairly intelligent. But, under her father's logical, scrutinizing eyes, she would always be second best to Petunia. "I'm sure you've appropriately congratulated her already." Most likely with a large savings account for Petunia's baby. When Marie had been born, all Lily had received was a note saying that Dallen loved her and hoped she and the baby were safe.

"Yes, I've already set up a trust fund for him, when he's older." _As I thought._

"How kind of you, da."

Marie began crying and James, feeling somewhat awkward, offered to take her upstairs for a while. The room filled with awkward silence, father and daughter calmly sipping their hot chocolate, each feeling rather out of place.

"Lily, I-"

"There's no need to explain, Da. I already know how your mind works about me. About _Marie and James _and my life."

"I don't understand. Have I upset you somehow?"

"Upset me? No, of course not. Why would this upset me? Merry Christmas, Daddy, and a happy New Year's to you and Petunia and the baby."

"Merry Christmas, Lilian."

They finished their chocolate in complete, tense silence.

_**/**_

_**Some fascinating little AU fanon I throw into James and Lily's lives all the time is that they have a daughter (out of wedlock, just for the fun of it) named Marie. Marie always exists in the back of my mind, but not as an annoying 'sibling of the bloody Boy-Who-Lived' sort of thing. You'll see why eventually. I'm mean to the Potters...so very mean. **_

_**Also, I intend on fixing all the messed up, what was written before-timeline, facts in my story so that they all fit what I want. (Which means, you probably won't HAVE to go back and reread all of it, but if you want just five or twenty more words to read, feel free. When I get around to updating various chapters, I'll let you know. **_

_**For more information about Dallen and Marie, see chapter 13, Turn Back Time. Also, most likely, there will be future chapters involving Marie and Dallen, so look out for those, too. **_

_**In an earlier chapter, I described Dallen as a pleasant man. This is b/c that chapter was from the perspective of 10 year old Lily, who hadn't lost her mum or gotten pregnant yet. Dallen gets very nasty in his last few years. Very, very nasty. **_


End file.
